Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, has adopted the policy of NBCUniversal after the cable giant purchased controlling interest from General Electric in February.

The policy has irked Williams Gun Sight owner Tom Wright, who said he believes it is politically motivated.

"In fact, I was attempting to rerun an ad we had run with them last summer ... and I wanted to run it in the Oakland, Pontiac area and when our ad agency Canadian American tried to place the add, they were told as of Feb. 8 ... they were going to adopt the NBC policy of not advertising anything related to firearms," said Wright, whose store is located in Davison. "It's my opinion they have an anti-gun political agenda."

In a written statement, Comcast Spotlight spokesman Chris Ellis provided links to advertising polices for Google, Fox Broadcasting Company, ESPN and the NCAA, which have similar restrictions.

"Consistent with longstanding NBC policies, Comcast Spotlight has decided it will not accept new advertising for firearms or weapons moving forward. This policy aligns us with the guidelines in place at many media organizations," Ellis said.

Wright can still buy advertising from local stations because those entities are not owned by Comcast Cable and don't have similar policies, said John Kupiec, president and owner of Flint-based Canadian American Corporation.

However, Williams Gun Sight would not be able to buy advertising time on networks that are owned by Comcast, such as NBC Sports Outdoors, Kupiec said.

Charter Communications has no policy about advertisements involving firearms, but has a joint operating agreement with Comcast Spotlight selling advertising time in Fenton and Davison, he said, adding Williams Gun Sight can't purchase air time in those areas.

The policy is a direct assault on the Second Amendment, Kupiec said.

"I also think it's trampling on the First Amendment," he said. "It restricts the right of a retailer to advertise a legal product."

The local television stations have been comfortable selling advertising space to Williams Gun Sight, said Wright, adding the policy limits the ability for him to reach customers.

"If you look at the whole Comcast Cable conglomerate, if you will, whether it's a direct affiliate of Comcast or whether a cable network such as Charter receives their fee from Comcast, technically Comcast has a monopoly on cable vision," he said. "If their intent is to stop us from reaching the viewers that receive cable, then they are certainly limiting my ability to do that."